MINDFREAK MAGICIAN “ESCAPES” HIS NEW ORLEANS HANGING
March 6th, 2008
Illusionist Criss Angel hung 75 feet in the air, suspended from a crane, as more than 8,000 fans held their breath while packed into the New Orleans French Quarter last night. He was attempting an impossible bid to escape from TWO straitjackets and then avoid crashing to the ground.
“I’d planned for 5-minutes,” said Criss, who was first wrapped and tied up in a maximum security jacket and then completely encased in a second jacket known as “armless transport” for dangerous criminals.
“Both jackets have been used separately by escape artists before, but never in tandem. I want to do things nobody has ever done before,” the Mindfreak magician added.
He was winched upside down by the crane and left hopelessly dangling mid-air over the Big Easy. After three minutes, 20 seconds, Criss escaped and the silent crowd packed wall-to-wall at the intersection of Bourbon and Bienville streets erupted in Cajun-style cheers and applause led by a group of his “Loyals” fan club.
I was on the phone to a magic expert watching the escape in the Crescent City and he told me: “It’s suddenly become like Mardi Gras. People are on their balconies. People are everywhere you look in every direction. It’s unbelievable. They are throwing beads. They are popping beer cans and champagne bottles to celebrate. Nobody has ever escaped from two jackets before. One straitjacket is challenging at the best of times, but two is simply impossible. Nobody knew what to expect because this is the first time anybody in the world has ever escaped from two, let alone hanging up over the rooftops! If he’d fallen it would have been certain death. But that’s Criss, he’s like chef Emeril Lagasse here. He just wants everything cranked up six notches!”
The doubly dangerous stunt was filmed for his Mindfreak A&E top-rated cable TV show cameras. Criss stays on in New Orleans today and tomorrow to finish the filming which marks the end of Season 4. He then heads off to New York to attend a wedding on Sunday in Long Island where he grew up.
The new Mindfreak shows will start airing June 4. Criss starts his Cirque du Soleil show rehearsals in the re-designed Luxor Theater on April 15. Previews will begin mid-to-late August for a third week of September gala opening. Somehow he will juggle and shuffle new filming next fall for the fifth new season of Mindfreak shows in addition to the Cirque show. Almost all are shot, edited, recorded and post-produced right here in Vegas at video-audio studios Criss has set up downtown.
Criss told the crowd: “New Orleans is a very special place. I’m very appreciative of all the people who came out to support and inspire me. It has been well-worth the trip to come here and now I’m going to urge people to visit New Orleans, see the spirit and the recovery for themselves. New Orleans has done so well in getting back on its feet.
It proves that how many times one gets knocked down that if you keep believing you can get right back up on top again. Never stop believing. ”
| | Posted by LoyalKK at 7:34 AM - | |
|
|
